It is well known that solar energy may be utilized to provide energy in heating in many situations. In general, systems have been used with a large number of reflectors to receive energy from the sun to focus and reflect the rays to a receiver element. The receiver element may comprise a tubular member through which circulating water or oil is passed and heated by the reflected energy from the reflector.
One of the problems involved in providing an array of solar reflector panels relates to the alignment between adjacent panels. Because the panels often have independent drive means, they often must be individually aligned if an efficient overall system is to be provided.
In cases where a plurality of reflector panels were put on the same support structure and driven by a single drive means to facilitate alignment of the panels, the means for supporting the panels have heretofore been a limitation as to the number of panels to be held. The reason for this is that the support structure or strong back element has generally been too weak structurally to support more than a limited number of reflector panels.
In order to provide an efficient system wherein alignment and other problems are minimized, it is desirable to have as many reflector panels as possible on the same structure. This necessitates a strong support structure.
Another problem relating to some prior art systems is that the reflector panels are limited in their angle of rotation, for example, to 270.degree.. This means that the reflector panels must be reversed in direction in order to properly align themselves to the sun rays the following day after use the preceding day. It is desirable in these cases to minimize this need to reverse the direction of the solar panel by enabling the panels to be rotated throughout 360.degree.. Very often the reason for the limited rotation of the solar panels has been the various support structures which obstruct the maximum rotations of the panels. Also, the connections from the water or oil in the receiver to the reservoir limit the degree of rotation possible.